Andy Priaulx set to leave DTM to switch to GT racing in 2014
Andy Priaulx is set to move from the DTM to GT racing full-time next year as part of BMW's assault on the new United SportsCar Championship
Although the deal has not been confirmed, AUTOSPORT understands that Priaulx has decided to take a new challenge away from the DTM.
He will drive BMW Team RLL's Z4 GT3 at this weekend's inaugural USC group test at Sebring and again at Daytona next week.
BMW American Le Mans Series regulars Dirk Muller and John Edwards will also drive the car, which will compete in the championship's LM GT division, in the tests.
Priaulx was unavailable for comment while a BMW spokesperson said: "We usually announce our line-ups at the beginning of December so therefore we will not comment on speculation regarding any driver right now."
Priaulx has enjoyed huge success in touring cars since joining BMW in the winter of 2002. He won the European Touring Car Championship in 2004 and three consecutive World titles in the discipline from 2005-07.
The 40-year-old Briton has competed for the manufacturer in the DTM for the past two seasons and scored his best result at this year's Hockenheim season finale, in which he started third and finished sixth.
DID YOU KNOW
While Priaulx is best known for his touring car exploits, he has racked up some significant successes in sportscars too.
He was unbeaten on his way to the 1999 Renault Spider title in Britain and contested his first big international event at the wheel of a factory BMW at the 2004 Spa 24 Hours.
His first major sportscar accolade came when he won the 2005 Nurburgring 24 Hours in an M3 GTR and he has since added a GT class win at the 2011 Sebring 12 Hours and a third place in the category at the same year's Le Mans 24 Hours.
Previous article
McLaren Formula 1 tester Oliver Turvey to race Baku FIA GT finale
Next article
Le Mans 24 Hours winner Guy Smith joins Bentley GT3 line-up
About this article
| Series | GT |
| Author | Jamie O'Leary |
How Ferrari's F1 protege became a Mercedes GT prodigy
Raffaele Marciello once appeared to be Ferrari’s next Italian F1 star, but is now under the pay of its German arch-rival in GTs – and he’s very happy with his life
Why GTE's future is a conundrum with no easy answers
The convergence between the World Endurance Championship and IMSA over LMDh regulations offers a bright future for sportscar racing, but the imminent demise of IMSA's GT Le Mans class creates wider issues to which no catch-all solution exists
How Tandy joined an exclusive club of endurance legends
Victory at last year's Spa 24 Hours meant Nick Tandy had completed the unofficial sextuple crown of the world's six biggest endurance races, becoming the first Briton to do so. Ahead of his fresh start with Corvette Racing, he explains how he did it
Why a lost F1 hope is still in demand aged 65
There's a saying among retired folk that life begins at 60, but endurance specialist Alain Ferte has never used the 'R' word. Some 40 years since his crowning glory in F3, he's still a driver in demand and gunning for more 24-hour racing success this weekend
How a BTCC veteran conquered the summit in British GT
After two decades in touring cars, Rob Collard had an uphill battle to unlearn the tools needed to be quick in tin-tops and understand how to hustle a GT3 car. But he did so with aplomb to prevail alongside Sandy Mitchell amid a challenging year for the series
The high-power solution to counter a dying breed
SRO boss Stephane Ratel was worried about the disappearance of the amateur - or 'gentleman' - drivers who used to be the bedrock of GT3. So he invented a new category that brings back a familiar name from the past
The Dutch oddity that was too niche for its own good
Despite (briefly) having its own F1 arm, Spyker's period in international sportscar racing was spent mostly propping up the grid. Its C8 Laviolette GT2-R stands as one of the last underfunded factory GT efforts that never got a helping hand from BOP
How a "fragile s***box" conquered a sportscar classic
It was rare to see anything other than a Ferrari or a Porsche winning GT2 races in the mid-2000s, but TVR's victory in the 2005 Spa 1000km was all the more remarkable given it first had to last the full six hours
